iPads confiscated by Israeli authorities

Rival religion

It seems that the new religion of Steve Jobs is not going down very well in the Holy Land.

St Steve has been preaching an iPad world crusade where everyone in the world gives him large amounts of money to be told what to do.

However, apparently this has not gone down well in Israel which sees his iPad as substandard.

The Communications Ministry has blocked the import of iPads to Israel, and the customs authority has been directed to confiscate them.

According to the newspaper Haartez it is all because Israeli government engineers say it does not meet the high standards required for wireless gear. Apparently it can't meet the right broadcast levels.

If this is the case then Apple will have some trouble bringing the iPad to the EU which has the same standards. Interestingly enough, the iPad is getting into a spot of bother in the US because it is about as portable as Windsor Castle. The signal is so weak you have to be standing on your wireless router before it will make a decent connection. Still you get what you pay for eh? Oh.

An Israeli who returned from the US yesterday told TheMarker that when he tried to declare his new iPad at customs, it was confiscated. He was told to apply to the Communications Ministry to have it returned. When he spoke to the ministry, he was told: "It is forbidden to bring iPads into Israel; send it back overseas."

The head of customs at Ben-Gurion International Airport said yesterday 10 iPads have been confiscated.